The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-07-01
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
How the Cities OF the Land Shall
be Regenerated.

How the Cities OF the Land Shall
be Regenerated.
TN Alliance OF Dirt sad IaIqsitv-Crims
the ORspring Of I9norsnos-Cisanli-
ness and Compulsory Educs.
tion the Only Remedies.
Row. T. Dewitt Talmsge, in . recent
sermon at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. took
the prevalence Of Dirt and Crime in the
cities as his subject, his text being:
And the men Of the city said unto Elisha b.
hold. pray thee. the situation Of this city II
pleasant as my Lord seeth; but the water 10
naught, and tho ground barren. And he said,
Bring me . new cruise. and put salt therein.
And they brought IL to him. And he went
forth unto the spring Of the waters, and east
the salt In there, and said Thus saith the Lord,
have healed these waters; there shall not De
from thence any more death or barren land. So
the waters were healed unto this day.-lH.
Kings H., 1922.
Dr.. Talmage said:
1t Is difficult to estimate how much OF
the pros ity and health of a city are de-
pendent upon good water. Tho time
when, through well-laid pipes and from
from Croton, or Ridgewood, or Schuyl-
kill, is brought into the city, is appropri-
ately celebrated with Grafton and
pyrotechnic display. Thank God every
dav for clear, bright, beautiful sparkling
water, as it drops in the shower, or losses
up in the fountain, or rushes out at the
hydrant.
The City Of Jericho, Notwithstanding
all the physical and commercial advan-
tages, was lacking in this impOrtanteie-
ment There was enough water, but 1T
was diseased, and the people were crying
out by reason thereof. Elisha, the
prophet, comes to the rescue. He says:
"Get me new cruise; fill it with salt
and bring it to me-"
So the cruise of salt was brought to the
prophet, and see him walking out to the
general reservoir, and he takes that salt
and throws it into the reservoir, and 10!
oil tho impurities depart, through a su.
pernatural and divine influence, and the
waters are good and fresh and clear, and
all the people clap their hands and lift up
their faces in the gladness. Water for
Jericho-ciear, bright, beautiful, God
given water!
At different times have pointed out to
you the fountains Of municipal corrup-
ton, and this morning I propose to show
you what are the means Of the rectifica-
tion of those fountains. There are four
or five kinds Of salt that have a cleansing
tendency. So far as God may help me, I
shall bring cruise of salt to the work.
and empty it into the great reservoir OF
municipal crime, sin and shame, lgnor-
ance and abomination.
In this work Of cleansing our cities I
hnx, Arok 70 ,v1y hat thav. 10 n aptr
for the broom and the shovel that nothing
else can do. There always has been an
intimate connection between iniQuity and
lirt The filthy parts Of the great cities
ore always the most iniquitous parts.
The cutters and the pavements of the
Fourth ward, New York. illustrate and
symbolic, the character Of the people in
the Fourth ward.
The first thing that q bad man does
when he is converted is thoroughly to
wash himself. There were, this morning,
on the way to the different churches,
thousands Of mon In proper apparel who,
before their conversion, were unfit in
their Sabbath dress. When on the Sab
bath see q man uncleanly in his dress,
my suspicious in regard to his moral
character are aroused, and they are al
ways well founded So as to allow no OK.
cuse for lack Of ablution, God has cleft
| tho continents with rivers and
lakes, and has sunk five
great OCEANS, and all the world
| ought to be clean. Away, then, with the
dirt from our cities, not only because the
| physical health needs an ablution but be-
| cause all the great moral and religious
interests Of the cities demand it as posi-
tive necessity. A filthy city always has
been and always will be a wicked city.
Through the upturning Of the earth for
| great improvement our city could not be
| expected to DO as clean as usual, but for
the illimitabe dirt Of Brooklyn for the
last Six months there is no excuse. 1t is
| not merely q matter of dust in the eyes,
| and mud for the shoes, ..and of stencil for
the nostrils, but Of morals for the soul
| Another corrective influence that we
would bring to bear upon the evils Of our
great cities is q Christian printing-press.
The newspapers OF any place are the
test Of morality or immortality. The
newsboy who runs along the street with
. roll of papers under his arm il q
| tremendous force that can not be
turned aside nor resisted, and at his
every step the city is elevated or degrad-
ed. This hungry, alldevouring Amori-
can mind must have something to read,
and upon editors and authors and book
publishers and parents and teachers rest
the responsibility OF what they shall read.
Almost every man you meet has book
in his hand or . newspaper in his pocket.
What book 10 it you have in your handi
What Is it you have in your
pocket Minister may preach, reformers
may plan, philanthropists may toll for
the elevation Of tho suffering and the
criminal but until all the newspapers Of
the land and all tn. book sellers of the
land set themselves against an iniquit-
Gus literature-until then We shah b,
fighting against fearful odds.
Every time the cylinders OF our great
publishing houses turn they mako the
earth quake. From them goes forth .
bless the world, or like an angel Of dark.
ness to smite it with corruption and sia
and shame and death. Nay God by his
omnipotent spirit purify and elevate the
American printing press!
Igo on further and say that we must
depend upon tho school for . great deal
Of correcting influences. A community
can no more afford to have ignorant men
} in its midst than it can afford to have un-
Gagged hyenas. Ignorance is the mother
Of hydra-headed crime. Thirty-ono Per
cent OF all the criminals of New Y orl
State can neither read nor write. Intel
lectual darkness is generally the pre-
cursor Of moral darkness.
, know there are educated outlawa-
men who. through their sharpness Of In
tellect, are made more dangerous. They
use their fine penmanship in signing otheI
peoples names, ard their science in in
} genious burglaries, aud their fine man
ners in adroit hbertinism. They 90 theil
| ronnd Of ain with ,rail cut anna rel and